Ksawery Drucki Lubecki

Ksawery Drucki Lubecki (born Dec. 28, 1779, St. Petersburg, Russia—died May 23, 1846, St. Petersburg) was a Polish statesman who restored the finances of the remnant of Poland that was constituted as the “Congress Kingdom” under the tsar of Russia after the Napoleonic Wars.

A member of a princely family descended from the ancient Russian ruling house of Rurik, Lubecki began his career as an officer in the Russian army. From 1813 to 1815 he was a member of the provisional government of the Russian-occupied Duchy of Warsaw; later (1817–21) he successfully negotiated in Berlin and Vienna the settlement of the Polish foreign debt.

Appointed minister of the treasury of the Russian-controlled Congress Kingdom of Poland when its finances were in a critical state (1821), Lubecki restored public confidence by restraining abuses and efficiently collecting overdue taxes; in three years he balanced the budget. Using budget surpluses, Lubecki developed state mines and foundries and helped the growing textile industry. In addition, he created the Land Credit Society (1825) and the Bank of Poland (1828).

While steadily defending Polish autonomy, Lubecki, a conservative, tried to keep the Polish revolutionary movement of 1830 within legal limits. He ended up being a passive witness to the defeat of the Polish rebellion of 1830 and to the merging of the Congress Kingdom of Poland into the Russian Empire. He spent the rest of his life in St. Petersburg, where in 1832 he was appointed a member of the State Council.